Now and Forever
by blondiebabe1
Summary: A Jack Lives fic. Jack and Rose survived the disaster. Now what?


Hey everyone! Sorry for those of you who began reading "Rain", my Boy Meets World story, a year ago and never got an update! I promise, once finals are over I will write the next chapter for you. Now, this is the first fanfic I ever WROTE, even though the other was posted first. I started this when I was about 11. Obviously, it's been modified since then. I hope you enjoy, Please, review.

Disclaimer: I wish it was mine, but I'm just borrowing them for awhile.

* * *

Jack Dawson's sky blue eyes slowly fluttered open. All he could think about was the cold of the North Atlantic. Then his thoughts shifted to his parents and of how devastated he had been when they died. Jack closed his eyes, and a vision of his parents beckoning to him appeared. They had smiles on their faces that seemed to stretch to their ears. George and Elizabeth Dawson wanted him to go to Heaven, to death. Jack was letting the cold win, letting himself be lead to a watery grave he didn't want. But then another person drifted into the picture. I was a beautiful woman with long red curls cascading down her back and blue eyes that seemed to have a hidden fire in them. Rose!

Somehow Jack willed himself back into consciousness, though he had been so far gone it should have been impossible. He had to survive for Rose. He loved her, with all of his heart. Then a sudden, sad thought occurred to Jack, 'I never told her. She doesn't know how I feel about her, how much I want her, how much I _need_ her.'

"I gotta get out of this water if I'm gonna survive tonight. I gotta find Rose and tell her I love her, make sure she is ok!" Jack said in a hoarse whisper.

As Jack's voice started to get louder with use he began to call for Rose, hoping that if she was nearby she might hear him. "Rose! Where are you Rose? It's me Rose, it's Jack! Please Rose, Where are you? Please Rose! Rose!"

The only response he got was a bright light in his eyes and a male voice shouting, "Come about!" It was the last thing Jack heard before blacking out.

* * *

"Jack how could you have been so selfish? How could you have made me promise to survive, then go and die? Jack you should have known that surviving wasn't worth it if I would have to live without you! You should have known!" Rose managed in a barely audible whisper. It was so cold lying in the bottom of Lifeboat Number 7. But it was the only boat that had come back.

Rose heard a splashing and felt cool drops of salt water on only her face, the rest of her was wrapped in a warm blanket. The there was a _thump_ as someone hit the bottom of the lifeboat. She heard Second Officer Lightholler ask the man his name, but by the time he answered Rose was asleep.

* * *

Jack could feel the hard bottom of the lifeboat on his back. Dawn was fast approaching and Jack dreaded the new day. What exactly had happened the night before? What if he couldn't find Rose? Would Rose still want to be with him? So many questions, and yet no answers.

Jack felt tiny droplets as they rowed towards a ship. 'The Titanic?' he thought. 'No, not unless I'm...' He pinched himself and it hurt. Relieved, Jack fell into an uneasy slumber.

* * *

Rose watched the sun as it rose over the ocean, creating a haunting, pale glow on the water. She would have taken joy from the meager ray of warmth provided, had her heart not been so cold, so empty. It was as if she could feel no pain. Her emotions were being held back, locked somewhere in her soul. 'Enjoy it while it lasts,' Rose thought as she boarded the Carpathia.

A man not much older than Rose herself asked what class she belonged to. "Third. Bring me to third," Rose answered, her voice monotone.

The man, eyeing her expensive clothes, tried to protest. "If you will not take me to the part of the ship where the third class passengers are I will find it myself!" Rose shouted angrily, regaining some of her upperclass tone an causing several people to look her way. She stared at them for a moment then stalked of in search of the third class section of the ship.

* * *

Jack squinted at the harsh white light. He wondered momentarily where he was. Then it came back to him, the water, the lifeboat, the cold. He grimaced at the pain of the memory.

"Aye, doctor, this lad 'tis awake at last," a blonde woman called out in a thick Irish accent.

After a quick examination the doctor proclaimed Jack's temperature normal and everything else in need of some rest. Before he drifted off again he asked the doctor what day it was. "Tuesday, son, you've been asleep since yesterday morning."

"Thank you," Jack mumbled in a jumbled tone. Within moments he was fast asleep.

* * *

Rose's heart started racing. She had just spotted Cal searching among the third class passengers. Searching for her, no doubt. As he neared, Rose sat up in the deck chair and pulled the green plaid blanket closer to her face so as to appear as one of the grieving women on board. Before long she _was_ grieving- grieving for Jack.

As Cal passed her, Rose looked up towards the sky and whispered, "Thank you Jack." she didn't need to say more. She knew he understood.

* * *

On Thursday morning it was raining dismally. Rose was one of the last passengers to step off of the Carpathia. She walked along for a moment, then found a spot near the base of the Statue of Liberty. Her eyes traveled up the green-tinted copper in awe. It was so beautiful, and so large. In a way it reminded her of the Titanic, and she silently prayed that nothing tragic would happen to the amazing woman watching over the harbor.

Rose wondered how she must look to the others staring at the statue. She was wearing the same ruined dress and Cal's expensive jacket. Her red hair was matted to her head, not having seen a brush in days. Her blue eyes were red and puffy, and she had tear-stains running down he blotchy cheeks. There was a light tap on her shoulder and Rose turned. A young man said, "Excuse me, Miss?"

* * *

Jack had been extremely frustrated at being the last person off the ship, all because he had picked up a slight head cold from the freezing Atlantic water. That is, until he had seen Rose, standing at the base of the statue of liberty, giving her name to a man in uniform. Once he was through talking with her, the man walked over and asked Jack his name. After he had given it to the man he asked, "What is the name of that woman over there? I knew someone who looked just like her on Titanic, but I thought she had died. Can you give me her name please?"

"Normally I wouldn't do this, it's against policy, you know, but you look to be in love with whoever you were talking about, and I am a sucker for young love," the man responded.

"Her name?" Jack pressed.

"The name she gave was Rose Dawson." Jack's jaw dropped.

Rose felt in the pockets of the coat, and she felt wads of cash and...the Heart of the Ocean? Rose gasped, and felt a familiar warm stinging in her eyes. Though Cal had given her the gorgeous necklace, she would always associate it with Jack and the drawing. She had thought it lost to her forever, and now that she knew it was in her possession she would never let go of it. As a tear dropped from her cheek she said, in a voice slightly above a whisper, "I love you, Jack."

Then, from behind her, she heard, "Next time how 'bout saying it to my face?"


End file.
